Ric Flair is expected to be signing a new deal with WWE in the next week or two where he will return to in a similar role he had when he left the company around ten months ago reports The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Many in the company always expected a return of Flair to WWE in some kind of capacity with many feeling the novelty of getting huge money autograph bookings, shoot interviews and other appearances wouldn't have very long staying power.

One undoubtedly huge factor in Flair needing a continuing flow of money is the reported $20,000 per month in alimony payments for his second wife Beth along with legal bills and an undisclosed alimony payment to his third wife Tiffany. The WWE had previously tried to prevent Flair from taking on many lucrative deals he was being offered, which is why he left the company last August.

Although nothing has been confirmed, the belief at this point is that Flair's new deal with WWE would not include any wrestling as Vince McMahon wants his retirement at WrestleMania 24 to stick. Flair was brought in for a return in May at the Judgment Day PPV to help boost a lack of star power on Raw with Triple H out seling a storyline injury and Shawn Michaels out for what expects to be a lengthy period of time. The company recently ran an angle on this past Monday's Raw where Randy Orton punted Flair in the head so it would appear he will be off TV for a while.

There was said to be some lack of communication between WWE and Flair as the company had hoped to have him signed earlier, but the distraction of the "Denver Dabacle" had Vince McMahon worrying about other things had everything put on hold. The company did initially want Flair under contract when they brought him back at the Judgment Day PPV on May 17 in Chicago. He was asked to not appear at the recent Ring of Honor TV tapings for HDNet, but no one at ROH was told about this until at 5 PM on the day of the tapings. ROH was then forced to rewrite three hours of television that they were filming just a few hours later.

Flair leaving ROH was said to be a big disappointment among ROH officials and wrestlers as they liked the idea of being on the same show as Flair. It also created a good deal of unhappiness between ROH officials and HDNet officials as the network had been largely promoting ROH using Flair. One important point here was that HDNet had plans to syndicate the show into foreign countries and planned to use Flair's name as a regular to make a huge difference in whether a deal would go down or not. Flair has stated in interviews recently that if he does come out of retirement that he would do so overseas. Whether or not he still intends to do this is up in the air with a new deal from WWE now on the table. He is still at this point scheduled to make many appearances overseas at events in Europe, South Africa, China and Egypt, although it would appear any plans to wrestle on those events before may not be the case anymore. It appears Flair's intentions of returning to the ring will rely on his new status with WWE and if he ends up signing a new deal with the company.

In an interview with B95 FM in central California, Jeff Hardy spoke on his current WWE contract status, saying "There's nothing concrete. There's rumors out there about me not re-signing, but we haven't decided that yet. They're real cool with giving me time. There's a very good chance (I'll still be on TV in six months), but we'll see."

He also spoke on 2008 being a tough year for him when he lost his house and dog while serving a wellness policy violation suspension. "I was tested like crazy," Jeff said. "Really hard time for me to get through those 60 days. Had to pee in a cup to prove myself to them (WWE) again." He denied reports that he was doing an MTV series.

Jeff closed out the interview by saying he's going to try to be creative to come up with new moves with Edge in the ladder match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday.

While the full details behind the release of Mr. Kennedy by WWE are still not known, some new reports that have come out indicate that a discussion between Kennedy and WWE Champion Randy Orton may have pushed things more along.

As noted earlier, Orton and Kennedy had a discussion after this past week's Monday Night Raw taping. It wasn't a heated discussion and was more Orton telling Kennedy to be careful out in the ring. Orton was said to have been a little upset about a back suplex given to him by Kennedy during the main event on Monday night where he was dropped more on his shoulder instead of his back, which happened to be the same area where he broke his collar bone last year putting him out of action for a good amount of time.

Kennedy didn't argue with Orton or talk back when told this after the show. While there were reports that Kennedy suffered an injury to his wrist taking an RKO from Orton during the main event, it wasn't believed to be that serious and many WWE sources who discussed it didn't seem to think it was going to keep him out of action at all. Some have suggested his release may prove the pull Orton might have in WWE right now, while others think it is a combination of many things including how Kennedy hasn't progressed much in-ring wise and continues to have health problems. Either way, his release definitely surprised many on Friday.

Missed Sunday's "Sacrifice" Pay-Per-View event? You can still catch the replay all month long on your Pay-Per-View provider! Check your programming guide for complete details on times and availability!

Quick results from the PPV:

- Countdown Preshow: The Amazing Red def. Kiyoshi
- Lethal Consequences and Eric Young def. The Motor City Machinerguns and Sheik Abdul Bashir
- Taylor Wilde def. Daffney in the Knockouts Monster's Ball Match
- Suicide retained the X Championship in a time limit draw over Daniels
- Angelina Love def. Awesome Kong to retain the Knockouts Title
- Samoa Joe def Kevin Nash
- Beer Money, Inc def. The British Invasion to win the Team 3D Tournament
- AJ Styles def. Booker T to retain the TNA Legends Title in an I Quit match
- Sting pinned Kurt Angle to win the "Ultimate Sacrifice" main event (As a result, Sting gains control of The Main Event Mafia)

- On the Countdown Preshow, The Amazing Red beat Kiyoshi with a standing moonsault!

In the opening six-man match on the Pay-Per-View, Lethal Consequences and Eric Young beat The Motor City Machinegs and Sheik Abdul Bashir when Machismo beat Bashir (Bashir tried to block the pin by grabbing the ropes, but the referee kicked them off). After the match, Bashir was upset with the referee's role in costing him the bout.

- Taylor Wilde beat the maniacal Daffney in the first-ever Knockouts Monster's Ball Match. After the bout, Dr. Stevie Richards poured out the bag of tacks and demanded Abyss slam Wilde into them! Abyss refused, and when Richards shoved Lauren Brooke, Abyss instead slammed Richards into the tacks.

- In the X Division Championship match, Suicide retained over Daniels via a time limit draw. However, during the bout the Motor City Machineguns cost Suicide the bout, leading to Daniels getting the win. But when Daniels saw the replay, he refused to accept the win and asked the referee to restart the match. The referee allowed it, and bother Daniels and Suicide fought to the time limit. In the end, Daniels handed the X Title to Suicide and the two superstars congratulated each other on an amazing match.

- In the Knockouts Title match, a terrified Angelina Love retained the gold after getting the pin on Kong after spraying her in the eyes with her perfume. After the bout, Kong cleared her vision and attack Love!

- "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe bloodied and defeated his former mentor, Kevin Nash, ultimately forcing him to tap out to a clutch submission. After Joe got the win, he continued to assault Nash, leading to security hitting the ring. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner came out to check on his fellow Main Event Mafia member.

- In the finals of the Team 3D Tag Team Tournament, Beer Money, Inc defeated The British Invasion to earn $100,000, a trophy and a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship. The British Invasion attempted to use the briefcase they stole from Hernandez during the bout, but Beer Money turned the tables and used it instead, allowing James Storm to hit the superkick for the pin.

- In an I-Quit match for the TNA Legends Championship, AJ Styles defeated Booker T to retain the gold after Jenna Morasca threw in the towel from Booker's corner. After a grueling bout, AJ got the best of Booker with an armbreaker after Booker was accidentally distracted by his wife Sharmell. When Booker refused to quit, Morasca tossed in the towel, resulting in the referee stopping the match and awarding the decision to Styles!

- In the "Ultimate Sacrifice" main event featuring TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mick Foley vs. TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting vs. Kurt Angle, "The Icon" Sting got the pin on Kurt Angle to win the bout after Jeff Jarrett hit The Stroke on Angle! As a result of the match stipulations, Sting becomes the NEW Godfather of the Main Event Mafia! Mick Foley retains the TNA World Heavyweight Title, as he was not pinned.

Source: TNAwrestling.com

2009 WWE Hall of Fame member Terry Funk made a surprise appearance at last Friday night's TNA house show in Amarillo, Texas.

Funk was the special guest enforcer for the show's main event featuring Samoa Joe versus Scott Steiner. He was alongside his old friend, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mick Foley.

TNA have posted coverage and photos of Terry Funk's appearance alongside Mick Foley, Scott Steiner and Samoa Joe on their official Twitter page.